Que Sera Sera
by newyork24-7
Summary: After an incident one night throws Jennifer Sheppard into the life she could have had, she has to try and figure out how to get back. But is the real question whether or not she wants to go back? Rated T for safety Jibbs
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So this story came about last night when for some reason the film Family Man came into my head, which led to the song Que Sera Sera popping into my head (I don't understand the connection either) Anyway a plot bunny was born and I felt the need to get typing. As for the title for anyone who doesn't know Que Sera Sera is french and roughly translated means whatever has to be, will be. This should make a bit more sense as the story goes on, anyway please read and let me know what you think.**

**_Disclaimer_: I don't own NCIS, the song Que Sera Sera or any other type of media product this story may seem reminiscent of**

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Slamming the fridge door shut Jenny cursed under her breath, no milk, she pulled open her cupboards, no coffee or any form of juice either. Rubbing irritably at her forehead she wondered what it said about her that the only thing she had to drink in the house was bourbon. It hadn't always been like this, ok so she had never been a domestic goddess but before she had taken the job as NCIS Director five months ago she had at least had some semblance of a proper home life. Admittedly she had still been alone, although she'd at least went out on dates. Since becoming Director she had been out once and that had been an unmitigated disaster, she had very grudgingly accepted a date with a Senator, only to find the man was just as big a sleaze as she had first suspected. She had spent most of the date extracting his hand from out from underneath her dress, the fifth time he had tried it she had squeezed his hand as hard as she could manage, breaking two of his fingers, funnily enough the date hadn't lasted long after that, he had made his own way to the emergency room. After that she had amazingly still had offers but with hindsight she had decided it was easier to decline.

Jenny leaned against the side of her kitchen worktop, she knew what had brought on this malaise, it was the thought of her fortieth in seven days time, she would be forty and alone, something she had never considered when putting together her five point plan. Jenny felt as though she was drowning in the silence that surrounded her, she needed out of this house. Grabbing her car keys she headed out to her own car, it was already half eight and she wasn't calling back her security just so they could accompany her to the store. Slipping into the driver's seat she turned the keys in the ignition, the engine gave a dying splutter before completely giving out on her. Groaning she hit her head off the steering wheel, this was what she got for ignoring the damn thing for the past couple of months.

For a few moments she just sat in the stationary vehicle, considering her options, she could either give up, go inside, drink bourbon and work through even more paperwork, or she could walk to the store, completely ignoring all the warnings she had received from her security about going out alone. Staring at the darkened house, Jenny already knew that her mind was made up, she needed to forget who she was for at least a short while, forget the choices she had made that had taken her here.

Her heels clicked softly on the pavement and as the cool October breeze whipped through the air she began to wish she had grabbed her coat, the thin suit jacket she had on just wasn't cutting it. She shivered, Goosebumps burst out all over her arms, the back of her neck and her stocking clad legs, her skirt suit while stylish had not been made for warmth. It took her almost half an hour to get to the nearest 24/7, the automatic doors swooshed open, the heat of the store seeping out. Jenny stepped inside, reveling in the warmth before ironically heading for the fridge grabbing some milk and orange juice. She gazed around the store, wondering if she wanted anything else, out of the corner of her eye she saw a woman and her young daughter standing by the sweets. The woman was clutching onto a map while the little blonde girl was begging her mother to buy her something, Jenny watched as the woman bent down and said something to her daughter, the pair started laughing and the woman swooped the little girl into her arms and tickled her, carrying her to the till. Jenny was torn between the desire to smile and cry, she wouldn't have that, she was realistic enough to know that even if she did get her dating life in order it wouldn't be quick enough, she had made her choice years ago between a family and a career. She let out a sigh, she had made her choice, now she had to live with the outcome.

Deep in thought she made her way to the now empty till point and smiled politely if not distractedly at the woman behind the cash register.

'Such a sweet little girl, do you have children?'

The question pulled Jenny out of her daze and she looked up at the smiling older woman, her face was friendly, with laughter lines framing her eyes and mouth, her gray hair was pulled back in a bun, loose strands had fallen out and curled around her face. Jenny gave a small uncomfortable cough as she answered,

'No I don't'

'Oh well, plenty of time for all that', the woman smiled encouragingly at her

'Maybe'

'You don't sound too convinced'

Jenny wasn't sure how to reply to that but she had overwhelming urge to be honest, 'I passed up my chance for a family a long time ago'

'And you regret that choice?'

'No!', she shook her head vehemently and said in what she hoped was a determined tone, 'I have so much, I have a great career and I'm completely self sufficient'

'But are you happy?'

Getting irritated now Jenny snapped, 'Yes, I have everything I wanted, everything I had in my life plan'

The woman just gave her a small smile as she handed the bag over the till, Jenny turned to leave, only for the woman's voice to call out to her,

'You know what has to be will be'

Jenny ignored her and stormed out of the store, she couldn't understand why that woman had gotten to her so much and what did she even mean! She hoped this wasn't the beginning of a mid-life crisis, she had enough to deal with already.

Deciding she couldn't be bothered with going the long way home along all the main roads Jenny cut down one of the back alleyways, she knew her security detail would have a coronary if they knew what she was doing, that thought made her smile slightly, she hated having every move watched. All of a sudden her phone began to ring, the shrillness breaking through the nights almost oppressive silence, not even bothering to check caller ID Jenny pressed the answer button, 'Sheppard'

'Where are you?', the deep voice on the other end demanded and she didn't even need to ask who it was, only one man would be so infuriating and blatantly rude.

'I'm fine thank you Agent Gibbs and how are you tonight'

'Don't play games with me Jen, I have a prisoner transfer order that needs your signature and you are not in your office'

'You know it's those observational skills that make you such an invaluable detective Jethro, I went home'

'Well come back in, it's only nine and that usually means you are still at your desk, you can't just swan off home when you feel like it'

'You are aware that you are no longer my boss aren't you? And for future reference I would hardly call leaving the office at half seven 'swanning off', not that it is any of your concern'

'I need this signed and I need it now Jen'

'Fine fax it to the house and I'll deal with it when I get in'

His tone changed from one of impatience to one she couldn't quite figure out, 'Where are you then?'

'I went to the shops, I needed to pick up some things'

'And your detail?'

'Is none of your concern, I've given you a solution to your problem now goodnight Agent Gibbs', With that Jenny disconnected the call, her blood boiling, that bloody man he was so infuriating. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps coming from behind her, her phone rang again and she answered, snapping down the phone, 'What the hell do you want OH!'

Someone grabbed her from behind, causing her phone to fly out of her hands. She could hear someone breathing heavily in her air, the strong stench of alcohol wafting from them, almost choking her. Whoever it was had grabbed her so her arms were pinned down, she tried to struggle against them, but they were bigger, stronger and she had had no warning so was left at a big disadvantage. They growled into her ear 'Stop moving, just give me your bag!'

'Hell no!' Jenny gasped out, still trying to pull free from her attackers grasp, her grip tightening on her bag, that was when she felt a sharp pain in her side, she let out a small moan and her grip loosened very slightly. Despite this she continued to try and fight her attacker, at least until she felt another sharp pain in her stomach, this one caused her to cry out and let go of her bag. Her attacker grabbed it and ran, leaving Jenny to fall to the ground.

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Annoyed that once again she had went off without her detail and also more than slightly irritated that she had hung up on him Gibbs had decided to call Jenny back and irritate her some more. A pissed off Jenny was always entertaining and at least he would know she was safe, because if he was honest his gut was playing up and it had been for most of the day. He hit the redial button and waited, she answered almost immediately, 'What the hell do you want OH!'

The minute he heard her cry of alarm he called out, 'Jen you ok? Jen, Jenny are you there?'

By this time his team had looked over in alarm, but Gibbs's attention was elsewhere, he was to busy focusing on what was going on on the other end of the phone, he could only make out muffled sounds and footsteps. Swearing loudly he threw the phone at the desk and turned to face his team,

'McGee I need a trace on the Director's mobile phone, I need her location now!'

The younger man nodded and turned back to his computer, typing frantically. Dinozzo and Ziva shot him a concerned look as Tony asked, 'Boss is the Director ok?'

Gibbs ran a harried hand through his hair, 'I don't know, I heard her cry out and then the line went dead', his tone became even more brittle as he snapped, 'McGee I want a location!'

He looked up at his boss's concerned face, 'I tracked the Director's cell phone to an alleyway just off Acker Street'

'Ok then let's go', Gibbs reached into his drawer and grabbed his badge and gun, 'Ziva arrange for an ambulance to meet us there'

Ziva appeared shocked by the request but knew better than to argue. As the team made their way to the elevator's Tony turned to Gibbs and asked, 'You think she's hurt boss?'

Gibbs nodded grimly as he replied, 'Yeah I do'

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Jenny tried to ignore the pain in her chest and abdomen as she attempted to push herself up, placing her palm flat on the ground she made an effort to sit up, pain ripped through her and she fell backwards, her hand flying up to the area where the pain was radiating from. Her hand encountered a warm sticky wetness, she held her hands up so she could see them, they were covered in blood. She let out a low moan of despair and angled herself so she could see better, the front of her white blouse was stained with her own blood, which was currently seeping out of her and spilling out onto the ground.

Her chest felt tight and she was struggling to draw breath as she made an attempt to find the source of the bleed, she couldn't, there was too much blood and the pain was spreading, thinking back she was pretty sure he had stabbed her twice. Her head fell back again, smacking off of the ground, she was so cold.

Jenny made one last effort to sit up, she managed to prop herself up slightly and began to cough violently, gasping for breath she raised a hand to her mouth and knew instantly that she had coughed up blood, she let out a groan as she broke out in a cold sweat and slipped back down again, the pain was too intense for her to stay in that position.

The concrete was cold and hard against her cheek, she couldn't believe this was it, this was how she was going to die, alone in a dingy alleyway. She felt a single tear trickle down her face, no one was going to miss her, she thought about trying to fight the inevitable but she was so tired of fighting, where had it really gotten her? She saw everything around her blur together, felt the pool of blood she was now lying in grow, her ears were ringing and she just wanted to go to sleep. Closing her eyes she decided to give up, why try and resist the unavoidable? And there in the darkened alleyway, bleeding profusely, Jennifer Sheppard stopped fighting for the first time in her life and let the darkness claim her.

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**xxxxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I just want to thank you for all your reviews so far, they made me smile, so much in fact it made me want to update, so here you go :) Hopefully this will get you to keep up the reviews. I wasn't originally going to end this chapter here but I got bored typing lol.**

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Jenny's brain woke up a few seconds before her body, giving her time to register the fact that the pain had stopped, in fact she felt really comfortable as well as warm and safe. She didn't focus on it too much and instead keeping her eyes shut she wriggled into the warmth that was radiating from behind her. The back of her head came into contact with something warm and solid and a comforting weight rested across her side, she briefly wondered where she was, but she was so comfortable she couldn't bring herself to make any effort to find out.

Suddenly a loud wailing broke through the uncharacterized peacefulness in Jenny's mind, causing her to jump slightly, her eyes flying open. It was then she noticed she was in an unfamiliar room, facing a window, the curtains were closed but early morning sunlight filtered through the small gaps. Jenny frowned, where the hell was she! She remembered being in the alleyway and arguing with Jethro over the phone, but then someone had mugged her, she'd been left bleeding on the cold hard ground, convinced that this was the end. The loud screeching continued and she glanced down at herself, the comforting weight from earlier was someone's arm! Now she was seriously confused, what was going on here!

She froze as she felt whoever it was behind her let out a deep breath and pulled her in closer, placing a kiss to the back of her head, muttering, 'Jenny it's your turn'

Her heart skipped a beat at that familiar voice, it couldn't be him! That didn't even make any sense, trying to prove herself right she slowly turned round, which was difficult with the arm that was draped across her. Her heart stalled as she took in the man lying next to her, his eyes were tightly shut but he was very definitely frowning, his forehead creased in concentration. She felt as though her heart was pounding in her chest, why was she in an unfamiliar room with Leroy Jethro Gibbs and what was making that infernal racket!'

His eyes opened, the familiar piercing blue glared at her, 'You can lie there all you want Jen but it's your turn, now go get our son before……', He didn't get the chance to finish that sentence as a blur of red and blue came rushing into the room and flew onto the bed.

It turned out that blur was a little red head girl in blue pajamas, with a very familiar set of blue eyes, she bounced up and down on the bed, 'Mummy, Daddy get up, Andrews crying again'

Jenny just gawped at the small girl she was now shaking at Jethro, who had stuck his head face down in the pillow. The girl was obviously used to this because she giggled and leaning back threw herself onto his back, Jethro caught her and whirled around onto his back, tickling the small girls stomach while she laughed hysterically screeching, 'Daddy stop it tickles'

Sitting up Gibbs leaned over the girl keeping up his torture, while laughing, 'What have we told you about jumping on the bed and waking your mother and I up?'

Crying tears of laughter she cried out, 'I'm not to do it unless the house is on fire'

Jenny watched in shock, that child had just said mum and Jethro had said son, the crying in the bakground continued, No No No! This had to be some sort of strange dream. Jethro looked up at her, 'Jen you better go get Andrew'

In reply she let out a strangled cry and jumped out the bed, briefly noticing she was wearing nothing but an oversized NCIS t-shirt, running to the door she grabbed the robe that was hanging on the back of the door and bolted, hearing Jethro yell behind her, 'Jen! Where are you going? Jenny!'

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She flew down the stairs, stumbling slightly as she went and pulling the robe on. Jenny ran out of the front door and closed it behind her, leaning against the wooden door. Breathing deeply she stared out onto the deserted street, this wasn't right, this wasn't her life,, she ran her left hand over her face, pausing slightly when she saw the glimmer of silver on her finger. Pulling her hand away she stared at the rings, one was a platinum band with a diamond sparkling from it, the other was just a plain platinum band. She blinked slowly, wondering why she had an engagement and wedding ring on? Why had she woken up next to Gibbs? And since when did she have kids?

It was then she noticed the paper on the front step, she picked it up and glanced at the date 18th October 2005, that didn't make any sense! Her attack was the 17th October 2005, and that couldn't be right, how could things have changed so drastically in less than 12 hours!

'Confused?', The familiar voice broke through Jenny's jumbled thoughts and she looked up, having to squint slightly in the early morning sun, she moved closer, surprised to see the woman from the 24/7 standing smiling at her.

'What are you doing here?' Jenny stared at her in confusion, 'In fact more to the point, what am I doing here?'

The woman's smile faded slightly, 'Do you remember what happened?'

Jenny nodded, 'Yes I was walking home and I was attacked and…….' she looked up, her eyes filled with fear, as she stammered, 'Am I.….Am I dead?'

'Not yet, earlier on you were thinking about the choices you made and whether or not you made the right decisions. You made one particularly big choice 6 years ago and this is your chance to see how different your life would have been'

'But…..Am I dead, or in a coma…..or what?'

The woman shook her head, 'At the moment none of that matters, you are here for the foreseeable future, so you may as well accept it'

Jenny closed her eyes, shaking her head before looking at the woman again, 'So who are you?'

'Right now I can't tell you that', the woman began to fade away, 'Just make the most of this chance'

Standing in shock Jenny stared at the now empty space where the woman had been standing only seconds previously. She heard the front door click open behind her and turned to face a confused and irate Jethro, he stood in a t-shirt and boxers glaring at her for a second before asking, 'What the hell was that Jen?'

Thinking on her feet Jenny decided the best way to deal with this was to go along with it, she was obviously hallucinating and soon everything would go back to normal, she just had to pretend this was real for a bit. She gave him an awkward smile, 'I'm sorry Jethro…..I just didn't feel well and I needed air'

His brow furrowed in concern and he pulled her into his arms, 'You feeling ok now?'

'Uh huh', She nodded against his chest, her hands sliding up and around his shoulders of their own accord, 'I'm feeling a lot better'

'Good', he smiled down at her and placed a small kiss to her forehead, 'I changed Andrew's nappy by the way so you owe me,' he brushed his lips against hers and Jenny tried to ignore the shot of lust that flared through her as Jethro whispered against her lips, 'You owe me big'. He pulled away, 'Now I have to get ready for work, will you be ok to get the kids ready and take them to nursery, they're up early this morning anyway so you should have plenty of time'

'Um yeah sure', Jenny smiled at him.

'Great', he gave her another kiss, 'I'll just jump in the shower and get going'

'Right', as he turned to go something occurred to Jenny, 'Have I got to go to work today?'

He turned and gave her an amused look, 'Well I don't think your boss would be too happy if you just decided not to turn up'

'Do we not go in together?'

Gibbs frowned at her slightly, 'We don't work anywhere near each other. Jenny are you sure you're feeling ok?

'I'm fine, honestly….I'm just tired, that's all'

He gave her one last look before heading inside, Jenny waited a few seconds before following, she saw him head into the bathroom and heard the hiss of the shower being turned on.

Sighing Jenny walked along the hallway, peering into each room in turn, from her vague recollection of this morning her and Jethro's room was at the end of the hallway, the first room she looked into was obviously a guest room. She peered into the room across from it, this was obviously her daughters, she still couldn't believe she had a daughter, the room was painted in a sunny yellow, with cuddly toys spilling out of shelves and drawings and paintings covering the walls.

Smiling to herself Jenny headed into the last upstairs room, it was a nursery, again it was filled with toys and a changing table, the wooden crib was in the corner and a small brown haired boy with her green eyes was standing up, grasping onto the sides. On seeing her, he smiled and began babbling happily and tried to hold his arms out, causing him to lose his balance, landing on his bum he just giggled and yelled out 'ma ma'. Jenny felt her heart swell with love, but she was so unsure of what to do, she slowly edged towards the crib and picked him up, he snuggled into her, a small hand wrapping around one of her curls, his chubby cheek resting on her shoulder.

A small voice broke the peaceful silence, 'You're not my mum'

Jenny whirled round to see the little girl from earlier sitting on a rocking chair in the corner, hugging a teddy bear close to her. Now she had a chance to actually look at her she could see that the girl looked exactly like she had at that age, well except from the blue eyes she had obviously got from her father. Not sure how to proceed Jenny tried to laugh it off, 'Of course I am'

'No, I know my mummy and you're not her', the little girl looked at her, her head tilted to one side, giving her a classic Gibbs stare, 'You look like her though, are you an alien?'

'Um……yeah that's it'

'Is my mummy ok?', the little girls eyes filled with tears, 'Is she coming back?'

Jenny nodded and with Andrew still in her arms she knelt down in front of the little girl, 'Your mums fine and I promise you she'll come back, I don't know when exactly but she will come home'

'Ok', the little girl nodded, 'You won't hurt me or my family?'

'Of course not'

The girl smiled at her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, 'Welcome to earth'

Stifling a small laugh Jenny kissed the top of her head, 'Thank you'

'You don't know my name, do you?'

'No I don't….sorry'

She looked thoughtful, 'You don't know much about us, do you want me to tell you'

Jenny smiled, 'That would be very helpful'

'Well I'm Isabel Sophie Gibbs, but everyone calls me Izzy and I'm five years and 3 months old. I was born on the 27th July 2000', at that Jenny frowned slightly, if that was right it would mean Izzy was conceived in October 1999, which was when she left Jethro in Paris. So this was obviously showing her what her life would have been like if she hadn't left. Jenny realised Izzy was still talking and she was now pointing at her brother, 'This is Andrew Thomas Gibbs and he was born on the 16th of January 2005, so that makes him', she screwed up her face in concentration, Jenny just watched her, still smiling, 'Nine months old'. Izzy grinned triumphantly at her, 'My daddy…'

Jenny held her hand up, 'Don't worry I know all about your dad. What I would like to know is where I work'

Izzy smiled at her, 'You work at NSA, I don't know what you do there but daddy says you keep an eye on the bad guys'

'Ok' Jenny let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in, she could deal with that, she didn't understand why she had left NCIS but she didn't supposed that mattered as much, at least she knew where she was going today and wouldn't be left wandering around. She smiled at Izzy, 'So how about we get you and Andrew ready for the day?'

Izzy pointed towards the dresser, 'Andrew's clothes are in there, I can get dressed by myself, but you'll need to do my hair', she gave Jenny a doubtful look, 'Can you do ponytails?'

Jenny tried not to laugh at the serious expression on Izzy's face, 'Yes I can, don't worry', she watched as the little girl smiled and headed out of the room before turning her attention to the little boy in her arms, 'Looks like we need to find you some clothes', She pulled open the drawer and grabbed the first matching outfit she could find. Lying the boy on the changing table she tried to get him dressed while also trying to stop him from rolling off the table. It was surprisingly difficult, Andrew seemed determined to examine his feet, which was not conductive to pull his trousers up. Eventually after ten long minutes he was ready, she held him up and bringing him to her face kissed his cheek saying, 'Well that wasn't too bad'

Izzy's voice piped up from the corner, the little girl was now immaculately dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and cardigan, 'My mum can do that in two minutes, that took you ages!'

Jenny felt slightly indignant, 'Well I've never done it before'

Izzy's reply died off as she saw her dad approach, she ran into his arms and he twirled her into the air carrying her into the room. Jenny smiled, Jethro had always been good with kids and she had always thought he would be an amazing dad, it looked like she was right. He smiled at her as he walked over placing Izzy on the floor he took Andrew into his arms and gave him a kiss before pulling a slightly surprised Jenny into his arms and kissing her deeply. As he pulled back Jenny knew she was sporting a very attractive goldfish look, he grinned at her, 'Just came to check how you were getting on and to let you know I'm away to work', he handed Andrew back to her and ruffled Izzy's hair, 'See you later, be a good girl for your mum', and with that he left, leaving Jenny's head still buzzing with how it had felt to have him kiss her again.

It was only when the front door slammed that she finally came back to her senses, she looked up to see Izzy giving her a look filled with curiosity. Jenny cleared her throat, 'So what now?'

'Well mum usually goes for a shower and gets ready before us, but if we get up early she'll go about now'

'Fine' Jenny nodded and then looked at the babbling boy in her arms, 'What do I do with…..'

'You put him in his cot'

'Of course', Jenny felt completely out of her depth as she put the Andrew back in his cot, feeling guilty when his face crumpled.

Izzy jumped up and leaned over the cot, waving a set of jingly toy keys at him, 'I'll watch him', Jenny wasn't sure what too say, mind you she supposed any daughter of her and Gibbs would be precocious.

She grabbed a towel and headed for the shower, turning it on she yanked her makeshift nightdress over her head and stepped under the almost scalding water, trying to think how she was going to deal with two kids, a husband and a new career. Grabbing the shower gel she began to wash quickly, her hands stalling as she encountered the raised scar on abdomen, just an inch or so below the bottom of her ribcage, it extended horizontally from her left side to just over halfway across her. Her fingers traced over it, she had obviously had it a while, it was faded and had flattened with time. She then noticed the small scar above it, directly below her ribs and the two small scars on either side of her ribcage, none were particularly awful, the three smaller ones were barely noticeable at all, still, she wondered how she had got them.

Remembering she still had things to do and two children to deal with she grabbed the shampoo bottle and quickly finished getting washed, she could figure things out later.

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**So what do you think so far?**

**xxxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Glad that so far you're enjoying the story. Please keep reviewing it makes me type faster :)**

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After her shower Jenny walked into her bedroom next door, having used her en-suite, she had taken one look in the other bathroom and seeing the baby bath seat, multitude of bath toys and bottles of children's bubble bath realized that she and Jethro had their own space. Opening her wardrobe she saw that saw that in this life she had a lot more casual clothes, she had about ten pairs of jeans some black, some blue and in a multitude of different styles. Examining her tops she figured this Jenny was a lot more laid back. Pulling the second door of the wardrobe open she saw her suits and shirts, checking the labels she saw that they were still designer, although they were styles that were released a few years ago. Taking one out she moved to her underwear drawer and pulled out a matching underwear set before throwing her clothes onto the bed, picking up the hairdryer off her dressing table she dried her hair as quickly as she could before pulling on her suit and heading down to the kids room.

Waking in she saw that Izzy was sitting in the rocking chair again, swaying to and fro as she read 'The Hungry Caterpillar' loudly, stammering slightly over some of the words. Jenny smiled and looked over at Andrew who now had countless toys in his crib and was currently slamming two toy trucks together, completely ignoring his sister's attempts to educate him.

Jenny gave a small cough and the little girl looked up and gave her a toothy grin, 'You look nice, they did a good job on the mother ship, you look exactly like my mummy'

'Um……Thank you', Jenny was starting to regret letting Izzy think she was an alien, but then the alternative would have been so much more complicated, she smiled at the girl and waved a hairbrush and some hair clips at her, 'Do you want me to do your hair now?'

'Uh huh', Izzy jumped up and sat down on the floor causing Jenny to follow suit, she sat behind her and began gently brushing her hair, before pulling it back and securing it into the pink bauble and clipping back the loose strands with pink butterfly clips. Izzy stood up and check her hair in the mirror before turning around and nodding solemnly, 'You did a really good job'

Jenny stifled a laugh as she leaned over the side of the crib and picked up Andrew, settling the small boy on her hip she offered her free hand to Izzy, 'Will we go have breakfast then?'

'Ok, but I want coco pops'

'I suppose that's ok', Jenny headed down the stairs, Izzy on hearing she was allowed her favorite cereal was down the stairs like a shot. At the bottom of the stairs she heaved Andrew back up onto his hip since he was slipping slightly and she stroked his chubby cheek, 'Will we go explore?'

He just gurgled and clapped his hands in reply. Jenny walked through the double archway that led onto a massive living room, it looked cosy though and it was surprisingly tidy. Double French doors led onto a formal dining area and another door led into a large kitchen diner, it had another set of table and chairs and a breakfast bar where Izzy was currently sitting, looking deep in thought as she read the back of the cereal packet while shoveling cereal into her mouth. Jenny walked over to the highchair and began a struggle to fasten Andrew in, after a few minutes a set of small hands reached across and snapped the restraint into place, while a now very familiar voice told her,

'Now you just pull the tray down'

Brushing her now mused hair out of her eyes Jenny puffed out, 'Thank you Izzy, now what does he eat'

'Weetabix, my mum mashes it up for him, his bibs are in the drawer, he's messy though so mum usually covers his lap with a dish cloth so his clothes stay clean'

'Right, ok', Jenny managed a tight smile, she had been up an hour and she was already exhausted and frustrated, why was this so difficult? Rummaging through the cupboard she pulled out the cereal and pouring in the milk mashing it up, grabbing a dish towel she draped the small boy in it, he just looked up at her in bewilderment. Izzy handed her a baby spoon and she handed it to Andrew. Feeling slightly triumphant that she had at least managed that, Jenny turned to look around the kitchen again, the fridge was covered in drawings and bits of paper with paint handprints on them. Her bag was sitting on the counter, picking it up she was about to go through it, when she heard a clatter and two children giggling, turning around she stared in horror at the mess. Andrew had decided he didn't need the spoon and now had Weetabix in his hair, all over the high chair and the remnants and the bowel were on the floor.

Izzy looked up at her, her blue eyes wide and her mouth twitching in a way that was eerily similar to Jethro's when he was trying not to laugh, as she told her, 'You were meant to feed him'

'Of course I was', Jenny's voice sounded faint to her own ears as she stared at the mess. Just as she felt the need to scream in frustration the front door clicked open and a familiar face walked into the room, 'Naomi! Thank God!'. Jenny had never been so relieved to see her faithful housekeeper'

The younger woman smiled, 'Good morning Mrs. Jenny', she looked around the room, 'What happened?'

'Slight breakfast mishap, that's all', Jenny tried to sound casual but she felt she was failing.

'Oh ok, well I'll just take this little one and get him washed up, so you can take Miss Izzy to school', she quickly undid the highchair and hoisted Andrew into her arms and ruffled Izzy's hair.

Jenny watched as she left the room humming happily before turning to Izzy, 'So what happens to Andrew while I'm at work?'

'Nomi watches him and I go to kindergarten, it says in your diary who picks me up on certain days'

'And my diary is in my bag?'

'Yes'

'Great', she headed over to the counter and rummaging in her bag found the black leather day planner, flicking through it she saw that at least this Jenny was semi organized, although nowhere near as bad as she was. Flicking to the days date she saw that Jethro was picking up Izzy today. Glancing at the clock she saw she better get a move on and grabbing her bag and the car keys lying next to it she herded Izzy out the door, 'Come on lets go, I'll need you to give me directions'. The little girl grabbed her backpack and followed her happily out the door.

* * *

After dropping Izzy off at school, Jenny drove to NSA and pulled into the employee car park. Picking up her bag she realised she needed her security badge and had to empty out the contents of her bag to find it. When she did eventually locate it, she read the job description on it, the first thing she noticed was the fact she used her married name and was no longer Jennifer Sheppard but was now Jennifer Gibbs and she was Head of Intelligence Analogy. At least that was something she could do, it was basically what she did when she was in MTAC and despite the fact she had children she obviously hadn't let her career slide, now she just had to find her desk, which was easier said than done.

Walking into the building Jenny quickly scanned the directory and found she had an office on the third floor, she smiled at the security guard as she strolled into the lift, holding it open for a tall dark haired man. He slipped in and grinned at her, 'Morning Jenny, how are you today?'

Smiling politely she replied, 'I'm fine thanks, you?'

He all but leered at her as he replied, 'All the better for seeing you'

The doors pinged open leaving Jenny unbelievably relieved, 'Oh well this is my stop, bye', stepping out the lift she could feel his eyes watching her, she shook her head in disbelief, for Pity's sake she was married and he was a blatant creep, like she'd let him near her in any life.

A petite blonde ran up to her, 'Hey, I see that James is trying it on again, you think the guy would give it a break, like you'd leave that silver fox you've got at home for a mangy mutt like him'

Jenny couldn't help but laugh, making sure to glance down at the girls name tag, taking in her name, the blonde continued, 'Anyway I just wanted to give you these reports to check over, I need to run across town, FBI needs a Kurdish translator and lucky me is the only one in the area. But don't panic I'll be back in time for lunch, I'll call you when I get out and meet you in the café at the corner as usual', she smiled, 'See you then'

Jenny nodded and took the files, 'Ok Amy I'll see you there'

Walking past all the desks she smiled and greeted all the people who stopped her before finally reaching her office, walking in she picked up one of the photo frames she had on her desk. It was one of all of them, they were outside sitting on a picnic rug, it couldn't have been taken very long ago, Izzy was sitting in front smiling angelically while Jethro had a laughing Andrew on his knee, one hand supporting him while the other was wrapped around her and she had an arm wrapped around Izzy, pulling her in close. Jenny studied the woman in the photo, she wasn't looking at the camera, instead she was gazing at her husband, they were both laughing at something, they looked so happy. It was strange she was so jealous of this version of her, she looked so happy and carefree, like she didn't have a care in the world. Jenny doubted she had ever really relaxed like that, the only times she had felt so happy was when she had been undercover with Jethro and yet she had still walked away. Jenny put the photo back down and scanned over the other photo's, there was one of a much younger Izzy in princess costume, one of Izzy holding a newborn Andrew and one of Jethro and her, they were sitting on a sofa and she was curled into him, his arm wrapped around her. She shook her head trying to will away the tears she could feel building up between her eyes, it was pointless to get upset, she had made a choice. It just seemed so cruel though, to show her this life and point out the mistake she had made when she had already lived with her regrets everyday since then. Squeezing the bridge of her nose she took a deep breath and decided the best thing to do was get back to work.

The rest of the day past in a blur. She had plenty of work to keep her going and it was work she could do, which helped when you oversaw a department. It had also been nice to get away from her desk for lunch, meeting up with Amy she had listened to the woman's latest dating disasters and then the blonde had tried to find out what she was doing for her fortieth in six days. Since she didn't have a clue Jenny neatly skirted around the question and managed to avoid the question from coming up again until they went back to work. Just after five o'clock one of the young techs put his head round and looking surprised to see her asked, 'Do you not head home about now?'

Jenny had looked at him in confusion for a moment before realizing that she actually had a reason to go home in this life. As she headed back out to the car she tried to think back to the last time she had left work during daylight hours and wasn't really that surprised when she couldn't remember. Slipping into the car she began the drive home and was perturbed by the fact she was actually looking forward to getting there.

* * *

Less than half an hour later she pushed open the front door, the faint aroma of food hit her and she could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. Walking down the hallway she stood in the in the doorway for a moment watching the scene in front of her, smiling. Jethro was standing against a kitchen worktop with Andrew in his arms and an excited Izzy telling him all about her day. Behind him on the cooker there were pots boiling merrily away. At that moment as though he could sense her, he looked up and smiled at her. She headed over and picked up the pan lids, peering in she saw they contained pasta and some sort of chicken in sauce, he was watching her in amusement.

'You know I made it myself'

She turned to face him, trying not to laugh, 'Oh you must be so proud'

He placed Andrew in his playpen and then walking over pulled her into his arms. She felt breathless and flustered just from him touching her, and when he lowered his mouth to hers she felt as though her stomach was going to leap out of her mouth. When he pulled back his blue eyes were twinkling in amusement, something she hadn't seen for years, well not to the same intensity as he told her, 'I am, that sauce is homemade'

'Yeah' a little voice piped up 'Nomi made it'

Jethro shook his head and still keeping one arm around her waist turned to face Izzy, 'You traitor!'

'What you can't cook! Mummy knows that', she shot Jenny a meaningful look.

Jethro faced her again, 'You know I think someone doesn't need desert tonight'

'Nooooo! Daddy

Jenny tried not to laugh at the desolate look on Izzy's face as she told her, 'It's ok, you can have desert, but you need to go wash up for dinner'

Izzy just smiled and ran out of the room causing Jethro to try and take advantage of the fact that there were no longer any prying eyes watching and pulled her as close into him as he could, he lowered his face to hers, so close their noses were touching and they were sharing the same air, 'So how was your day?'. he gave her a concerned look, 'Are you feeling better?'

Trying to control her breathing and heart rate she replied, 'Much, my day was ok but nothing special, yours?'

'Murdered marine, killer turned out to be his commanding officer, he'd been having an affair with his wife. So the usual really. You know you had me worried this morning', he gave her a smirk, although concern was still apparent in his eyes, 'I hope you turning forty hasn't sparked some mid-life crisis'

'Says the man who is on the slippery slope to fifty and builds boats in the basement'

'You've never complained before'

Jenny said nothing just gave a non committal shrug, at least some things hadn't changed. Her attention was diverted by small giggling sounds, she looked up to see Andrew peering at them through his playpen laughing. Feeling grateful that he had distracted them, because Jethro's fingers drawing circles on the bare skin of her back, having crept up under her shirt during the conversation, was almost too much for her to bare.

She pulled out of his arms and picked up the little boy, cuddling him close as she said, 'I think I forgot to say hello to you', she got the usual babbling back in reply. Looking up she saw Jethro watching her with a look that made her heart skitter, so she turned her attention back to Andrew.

Jethro's voice cut through the silence though, 'Oh by the way there's been a slight change of plan for tomorrow, I have to go to a sexual harassment thing for a couple of hours in the morning it's compulsory, so I was thinking if you come by with the kids about twelve we'll just leave from the Navy Yard'

Not wanting to point out she had no idea what he was talking about Jenny just smiled and nodded, 'Sure that's fine……wait isn't tomorrow Saturday, why are they having it then?'

Jethro rolled his eyes, 'Vance doesn't want it to interfere with work'

Leon Vance? The Assistant Director? What has he got to do with it?'

He walked up to her frowning, 'Vance was promoted to Director about five months ago when Morrow moved to Homeland Security.', He placed a hand to her forehead, 'Jen are you sure you're ok?'

'I'm fine honest, I just forgot', she moved away from him and went to check on the dinner. She didn't really know why she was so surprised, after all she had always known that Vance had been expected to get the job and was passed over in favour of her. She could feel Jethro's eyes boring into the back of her neck and knew he was worried, thankfully just before he could say anything Izzy rushed back in.

'What are you talking about?'

Smiling at his daughter Gibbs told her, 'I was just telling your mum that we're going to be later in going to the zoo tomorrow, I have work to do, so you have to meet me there first'

Izzy smiled, 'Can I see Aunt Abby?'

'Course you can'

'Well then it's ok'

Realizing the dinner was ready, Jenny handed Andrew over to Jethro, not really wanting to wrestle with the highchair again, asking him, 'Can you get him organized, put his bib on and stuff while I serve'

He looked at her incredulously, 'You are not seriously going to give our nine month old, chicken and pasta in sauce'

Without thinking Jenny blurted out, 'Well what else is he going to eat?'

'Jen he doesn't have teeth, he'll choke! I gave him his dinner just before you came in, Jenny you know this, what is with you today?'

She ran her hand through her curls, 'Nothing I just…..my mind was elsewhere', she turned back to the plates and tried not to spill the damn sauce everywhere.

They sat down at the table and Jenny noticed that Izzy was staring at her in interest, Jethro seemed to notice too and told the little girl, 'Izzy it's rude to stare'

'But I've never seen how an ali……'

Seeing where this was going Jenny jumped in, 'Izzy how was your day?'

'It was good…', Jenny relaxed as the little girl rattled off a multitude of stories, she smiled at her enthusiasm, but she could see out of the corner of her eye that Jethro was still looking at her.

* * *

After dinner Jenny took Andrew for his bath. The bath itself went fine, it was when she was confronted with putting a nappy on him that she was stuck. What way round did this thing go on? She pulled at the tabs and one came off in her hands, she was pretty sure it wasn't suppose to do that. Four nappies later Jenny let out a wail of despair, causing Andrew to clap his hands and giggle before peeing, having not covered him up Jenny found herself ducking down while still trying to keep him from rolling off the changing table. When she was satisfied he had finished she decided to get inventive, wrapping him in a towel she carried him out into the hall grabbing the cellotape she had seen earlier. Standing him up on the changing matt she balanced him with one arm while wrapping the cellotape around the nappy to keep it in place, letting out a triumphant cry when it stayed in place. The happy feeling didn't last long though when she heard a deep voice in the doorway,

'What the hell are you doing?'

Her head shot up and she saw a bemused Jethro standing in the doorway, she looked back at her 'masterpiece' and then back up at him, 'I um…..couldn't get it to stick…..so I improvised'

'With cellotape!'

The happy feeling was completely gone now and she just gave a slight nod, 'Yeah'

'Jenny….' he rubbed his forehead, 'What is wrong? You've been distracted today'

'I'm fine', her voice sounded false even to her own ears, 'I'm just tired that's all'

'Here', he held out his arms, I'll take over bath time tonight, you just go rest'

She handed Andrew over and went to slip past him, he grabbed her around the waist and hugged her into him, whispering into her hair, 'Jenny if something was wrong you would tell me, wouldn't you?'

An immense wave of guilt washed over her as she nodded and told him, 'Of course I would', she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes though as she said, 'I really am just tired'. With that he let her go, she headed towards their bedroom her thoughts whizzing around her head, lying down on the bed she closed her eyes a feeling of pure tiredness creeping over her and she drifted off.

* * *

After putting the kids to bed Gibbs went into their bedroom to check on Jenny, she had been acting so strangely today and it had him concerned. Walking into the room he saw her sprawled out on the bed, fully clothed and fast asleep. Smiling slightly he moved towards her and grabbed one of his t-shirts from his drawers. He drew her up into a sitting position and she just mumbled slightly, as gently as he could he undressed her and pulled the t-shirt on over her head before tucking her under the covers. She slept through the entire process, he went through to the bathroom and got ready for bed, slipping under the covers next to her, he wasn't very surprised when she rolled into him, her head resting on his chest as she sought out his warmth. Putting his arm around her he closed his eyes, maybe she was just tired, he was sure everything would be fine after a good nights sleep.

* * *

**The next chapter will have the team in it. **

**xxxx**


	4. Chapter 4

When Jenny woke up, she found that at some point Jethro had got her out of her clothes and into another oversized t-shirt, she was beginning to wonder if she had any real pajamas in this life. She shifted slightly and was slightly perturbed to realise that during the night she had curled herself into Jethro's side and that her legs were entangled with his. Jenny went to move onto her own side of the bed, only to find his arm tightened it's vice like grip around her waist and pulled her back into his side, giving up she glanced over at the alarm clock, it was 3am. Sighing she tilted her head up to look at him, she smiled, he looked so peaceful, an emotion she had never been able to associate with him. She had obviously seen him asleep before, but he had never looked so carefree, feeling completely relaxed she yawned and leaning her forehead against his chest drifted back off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The shrill beeping of the alarm penetrated her mind and dragging her back into her new reality, she heard him mutter as he leaned over her head and hit it off. Still lying on his chest Jenny felt him trying to gently move her, he was obviously trying not to wake her, she opened her eyes and met his. He gave her a small smile, 'Sorry I didn't mean to wake you'

'You didn't, the alarm did'

Leaning forward he caught her lips in a brief kiss, 'How are you feeling?'

'Much better'

Jethro seemed satisfied with this answer and pushed himself up, 'Good, you had me worried yesterday especially with the whole cellotape thing', his back was to her so he didn't see her grimace slightly, she still had no idea how those things worked, he turned and shot her a grin, 'I'll go check on the kids before I get ready', he leaned over her and placed a kiss to her forehead, 'You can have a lie in for a change, you do so much I'm not surprised you were tired'

'Ok', she watched him leave the room and snuggled back down into the bed, only to find she had company less than ten minutes later. She blinked her eyes open and found herself staring into the exact same ones, two chubby hands reached out and touched her cheek, accompanied by a happy cry of,

'Ma ma'

Jenny smiled at Andrew, as he curled one of his tiny fists into her hair and curled into her letting out a small yawn. Hooking her arm around him, she lifted him up and pulled him under the covers, she felt the mattress dip and she looked up to see Jethro sitting smiling at her. He reached out to ruffle his son's hair, 'He kept yelling for you'

Stroking Andrew's cheek as she told him, 'It's fine'

'I better go get ready, no doubt I'll find Izzy in here when I get back'

She quickly found that Jethro had been serious, only five minutes later the little red head wandered into the room, rubbing at her eyes, a teddy bear hugged close into her. Her eyes half closed she clamored into the bed, she gave Jenny a quick look and mumbled, 'I always come in here on Saturday', she shot an indignant look at her brother, 'He's in my spot', frowning she gave the oblivious boy a quick Gibbs glare before curling into a small ball and drifting off back to sleep.

Looking at her two sleeping children Jenny felt her heart break slightly, she so wanted this to be real, despite it's difficulties she already loved this life. It surprised her, as she had obviously disregarded her five point plan, but as her mind drifted back to what her real life was like she realised that plans weren't all they were cracked up to be. Jethro's voice pulled her out of her thoughts,

'Told you she'd be in here like a shot', he smiled at the sleeping girl, 'I'm running late so I better go'

'I never thought I'd see the day you would be late'

Jethro rolled his eyes at her, 'I still don't see why I have to go to this thing, I should have just been allowed to send Dinozzo'

Laughing at the expression on his face she told him, 'Oh stop acting like a petulant child and just go to the damn thing, the quicker you go the quicker it'll be finished'

'Fine, I'll go', he smiled at her 'I'll see you at lunchtime?'

'See you then'

She smiled as she heard him head down the stairs and the and the front door opened and shut again. She snuggled back down into the covers and throwing a protective arm around the children she went back to sleep.

* * *

As it quickly approached twelve Jenny struggled to get the two children ready. It had taken her half an hour to figure out and successfully put on Andrew's nappy, then she had tried to feed him, but he refused to open his mouth. She'd even had problems with Izzy, the little girl had decided she wanted to be a ballerina today and was desperate to wear her tutu out. Jenny had eventually managed to convince her that it wasn't the best idea to wear it out to the zoo, but had had to promise she could wear it when she got back. Then just as she had been about to leave Andrew started wailing because he needed his nappy changed, Jenny wondered how pathetic it was too feel proud that it had only taken her seventeen minutes to put a new one on him. She had decided not to include the twelve minutes it had taken for her to take it off and clean him up.

At five to, Jenny rushed out of the house, Andrew clamped onto her hip and ushering Izzy in front of her. Izzy jumped into the back seat and fastened herself into her booster seat while Jenny stared in horror at the contraption that was Andrew's car seat. She gingerly placed him in it and untangled all the straps, looking at them she tried to fathom out how it all fit together, she looked over at Izzy in desperation, the little girl just shrugged. Inwardly groaning Jenny wondered if it was illegal just get some rope and sort of tie him in place, shaking her head she realised that was not only dangerous but if she got caught it would take one hell of a lot of explaining. After ten minutes and a lot of mumbled curses, Jenny figured out she had to bring two over his front and clip them into the clasp at the exact same time and then repeat the process with the bottom two clips. She couldn't help the cry of triumph that escaped her lips, out of the corner of her eye she saw Izzy slowly shaking her head, Jenny chose just to ignore it and instead slipped into the driver's seat, starting the engine she prayed the rest of the day would go more smoothly, as much as she already loved these kids the practical aspect of having children was draining.

* * *

As she walked into the entrance of NCIS headquarters Jenny was surprised to find that the security guard recognized her, she was obviously still a familiar face around here. As they headed towards the lifts she felt a tug on her sleeve, she looked down at Izzy,

'Can we go down to see Abby in her lab, please', Jenny nodded, it would be nice to see another familiar face in this place, someone who hadn't changed.

The lift doors opened out onto the basement and Izzy rushed ahead, flying through the doors into the lab, Jenny quickened her pace to keep up with her. She entered into the lab to find the girl balanced on Abby's knee while the chattering Goth swung from side to side on her chair. Abby looked up and smiled, 'Jenny it's good to see you, how's things?'

'Fine, how are you?'

'I'm good, got a new mass spec yesterday, my baby fried, it was tragic, Vance wouldn't let me give it a proper send off though, he insisted it be safely disposed off', she rolled her eyes, before jumping slightly and exclaiming, 'Oh! I almost forgot, Tony and Ziva went undercover the other day as married assassins and they were very and I mean very convincing, the CIA who were following them actually thought they were….', she gazed down at Izzy and thought about what she was about to say, 'Getting into the heat of the moment'

Jenny stifled a laugh, she remembered the case from earlier on that week and knew exactly what Abby was talking about, she wondered if maybe without the introduction of a new rule twelve they had realised their feelings and had acted on them, she decided there was no harm in asking, 'So are they involved now?'

Abby shook her head, 'No, they're still too busy niggling away at each other, although it's actually quite interesting to find out how many ways Ziva can kill a man', the Goth looked up at her, 'Although at least Gibbs has gotten use to having Ziva on his team, I have to admit we were a bit worried when she requested the transfer from Mossad, after all that happened with Kate……', Abby trailed off, sadness evident in her eyes, she stroked Izzy's hair, 'I don't know about you but I miss our lunches'

Jenny could do nothing but nod and mutter, 'Yeah me too', she didn't know what else to say, obviously in this life she had known and been friends with Kate, she was also unsure of what her relationship with Ziva was like here, after all she had met her through work and she very much doubted she had ever went to Cairo in this life, Izzy would have only been a few months old at that point and she didn't think she would have left her newborn daughter.

Abby shook herself and looked over at Jenny, 'So onto happier things, are you looking forward to your birthday?, Jenny automatically grimaced, causing the younger woman to laugh, 'Oh it won't be that bad. Do you know what Gibbs has got you?'

'No I honestly don't have a clue'

Abby sighed, 'It must be nice to have two special occasions so close to each other'

Jenny frowned, 'What my birthday and Halloween? I can honestly say I've never thought about it that way.

'Um no….', Abby gave her an odd look, 'I meant your birthday and your wedding anniversary, they're what twelve days apart?'

Thankfully Izzy intervened, 'It's on the 6th' she smiled up at Jenny and winked.

Desperately trying to cover up her massive oversight Jenny laughed, 'Oh of course, it just completely slipped my mind for a second there', she hoisted Andrew further up onto her hip and wished she had known how to open up the folded up buggy in the car boot.

At that moment the doors swooshed open and Jethro and his team walked in. As he caught sight of her Jethro grinned and walked over to her, kissing her on the cheek, 'I know I'm late but the seminar over ran'

'It's fine, we've only been here about ten minutes', she looked over at the three members of his team and feeling slightly awkward smiled.

Tony looked at her with the usual gleam in his eyes and let his gaze flicker over her figure, this wasn't anything new, he grinned at her, 'How are you Jenny?'

'I'm good Tony, Abby was just telling me about you and Ziva's latest…exploits, your nose is healing nicely by the way', she smirked at the young agent, he laughed although he gingerly felt at his nose while Ziva and McGee snickered in the corner.

Shaking his head Jethro took Andrew out of her arms, asking, 'Did you not bring the buggy in?'

'No I didn't, like I said I was running late so I didn't want to mess around with it'

'Fair enough', he turned to Izzy, 'Come on then lets go'

Izzy grinned and jumped off Abby's knee, 'If it's busy and I can't see can I sit on your shoulders?'

'Of course you can', he turned to his team, 'You can all go home, but I expect you in first thing on Monday morning'

They all nodded until Tony piped up, 'What exactly is first thing boss?'

Jenny couldn't help but grin as Jethro smacked the back of the younger Agent's head as they headed out of the lab, something's never changed.

* * *

The day passed far too quickly for Jenny's liking, she had always loved the zoo although she hadn't been in years and she quickly discovered that Izzy shared this love. The little girl had been fascinated by all the different animals, although she had informed them that the monkeys weren't her favorite anymore, she preferred giraffes now. As they walked around the zoo Jenny felt completely calm, with Izzy talking happily and Andrew babbling in delight and pointing at the different animals while Jethro's arm stayed around her waist, every so often laughing into her hair at their daughter's observations. When they had got to the penguin enclosure it had been so busy that Jethro had had to lift Izzy onto his shoulders, while Jenny had taken Andrew out of his buggy so he could see the excitement as well. In that moment Jenny forgot that this was all just temporary and just enjoyed what she had at that moment in time, two beautiful children and a devoted husband.

* * *

That night Jenny tucked Izzy into her bed, the little girl looked up at her, 'I had fun today'

'Me too'

She watched as Izzy pulled a book out from under her pillow, 'My mummy was reading me a story and I was wondering if you would keep going, it helps me sleep'

Jenny smiled and took the book off of her, 'Of course I will', she noticed the corner of one of the pages was folded down and flipping to that page she began to read. She kept going until Izzy's eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed slightly, marking the page she tightened the covers around her and kissed her forehead before heading towards the door. As her hand hovered over the light switch she smiled at her, closing the door softly behind her, she then checked on Andrew, he too was fast asleep, his hand thrown above his head and blankets around his feet. He stirred slightly as the lullaby that had been playing on the tape cassette clipped onto his crib stopped, Jenny flipped the tape over and pressed play so it started up again and then pulled the blankets back up to his waist before heading downstairs.

* * *

Standing in the kitchen she stared at the door that she knew led into the basement, she was torn, she wanted to spend time with Jethro, but she wasn't his wife, she wasn't that woman. Making up her mind she opened the door and for a moment just stood at the top of the steps, just watching him. Leaning against the doorframe she watched as he quickly and skillfully shaped a piece of the wood, he had always been good with his hands. He obviously sensed her presence as he looked up and on seeing her leaned against the bare bones of his creation, waiting for her to come down and join him. Jenny breathed out deeply before starting her descent, as she got near to him he reached out and pulled her into him, she hadn't been expecting it and had to hold onto his shoulders to steady herself.

He stroked his hand over her cheek as he asked, 'The kids asleep'

Trying to reign in some control over herself she nodded, 'Yeah both dead to the world'

At this he grinned and lowered his mouth to hers, one hand twirled into her hair, while the other slipped around her waist, his fingers stroking at the bare skin between her shirt and jeans. She wondered if this was wrong, if she was misleading him, but then he gently nibbled on her bottom lip and all thoughts of telling him to stop flew out of her head. Her fingers wound up into his hair as she angled her head to get closer. She heard herself groan in disappointment as he pulled back, only for him to shoot her a quick smirk before lowering his mouth to kiss along her collarbone as his fingers began to undo the top buttons of her shirt trying to gain more access. Jenny's hands slipped from his hair, running down his sides until she encountered the hem of his t-shirt, as she went to pull it off his hands halted her and she looked up at him in bewilderment, he just shot her a grin as he told her,

'I think we should take this upstairs, I don't think the boats strong enough to take both our weights yet', with that he grabbed her hand and they stumbled up the stairs, stealing kisses on the way.

As they battled their way through the kitchen, Jenny couldn't help but giggle as she fell backwards into the counter knocking her bag off it, Jethro grabbed her round her waist, steadying her. He breathed into her hair, 'Don't tell me I need to carry you'

She grinned wickedly back, 'You'd need to catch me first old man', and with that she darted out of his grasp. He of course caught up with her, she hadn't expected him not to and they tumbled down onto the stairs, she arched up into him, causing him to groan as she told him,

'I don't think this will be anymore comfortable than the basement'

He lowered his head to her shoulder, letting out a ragged, 'I don't think I care anymore'

'You'll thank me in the morning', and using all her strength she flipped them over before continuing to run up the stairs.

By the time they got into the bedroom Jenny knew that Jethro wouldn't want to play games anymore and that was fine with her. She was right as well, the minute he got into the room he all but threw her down onto the bed. Their lips met as they rid the other of their clothing and then teased each other into a frenzy. When he finally pushed into her, she was more than ready, all the feelings for him she had tried to block out for six years came rushing to the surface. She didn't even realise she was crying until he ran his finger down her cheek, his eyes glowing with concern, 'Jenny what's wrong'

'Nothing', she shook her head, her voice breaking slightly as she told him, 'I just love you so much'

He lowered his mouth to hers and the kiss they shared left her almost breathless, he whispered against her mouth, 'I love you too Jen'

She tilted her hips towards him and he started to move, her hand found his and their fingers entwined as he pushed them both over the edge. As they came down from their high, he rolled onto his side, taking Jenny with him, she lay her head on his chest, her fingers absentmindedly curling into the hair there as her legs wrapped around his and for once in her life she felt happy, as she pushed the fact that this wasn't real to one side and let herself drift off into a contented sleep.

* * *

**For some reason I'm finding it really easy to write long chapters with this story. Plus I gave you fluffyish Jibbs, I think I deserve reviews hint hint lol**

**Anyway don't worry if you feel you didn't get to see a lot of the team they will be back in one of the next two chapters.**

**Also there will be a bit of an explanation on how Jenny got her scars.**

**xxxxx**


	5. Chapter 5

The next few days passed without incident and Jenny settled into her new life, quickly adjusting to the challenges of balancing her career and her family. Not only that but it had made her face up to the fact that her feelings for Jethro were just as strong as they had been in Paris, just because she had pretended they weren't there didn't mean she had moved on. The only fly in the ointment was that no matter what she did this was all just temporary, at some point she was going to have to go back to the life she had left behind, well if she could, she still wasn't sure if she had survived her mugging.

* * *

The morning of the 24th dawned bright and early and Jenny was awoken by the sound of giggles and someone bouncing up and down on the bed next to her, shaking at her arm,

'Mummy mummy wake up'

Jenny waited a few seconds and then just as she heard Izzy let out a sigh of impatience she quickly grabbed the girl and rolled her underneath her, tickling her. The little girl squealed in delight and tried to wriggle free, eventually Jenny stopped and looked at her, 'Do you give up?'

'Yes', the little girl beamed up at her and placed her two hands on either one of Jenny's cheeks, 'I'm glad you came back mummy, the alien was nice, but she wasn't you'

'I'm glad I'm back as well', she sat up and pulled Izzy into a hug.

'Happy birthday', Izzy grinned up at her 'I've got a present for you', the little girl bounced off the bed and thundered down the stairs, only to run back up a minute later. Jenny could hear her telling her dad to hurry up before appearing in the doorway holding a plate. Jethro appeared behind her holding Andrew. Izzy presented the plate to her, 'I made you breakfast in bed'

Jenny looked from the very pleased red head to the plate of food, it appeared to be a strange mixture of pancakes and waffles, covered with chocolate sauce, what was possibly maple syrup and marshmallows. She saw Jethro sit down on the bed across from her, he shot her a smirk, trying to brave it out she gingerly lifted the spoon and speared off a bit of the concoction raising it to her mouth and trying not too grimace at the taste,

'Mmmm, it's really good', she smiled at her daughter and looked up to see Jethro laughing quietly, 'Although you know what, I think your dad would really like to try this', she had to stop herself from laughing at the look on his face.

Izzy looked between her parents, 'I suppose that would be ok'

'You know what Izzy I think your mum should get to enjoy her breakfast all by herself', Jenny grinned and waved the spoon at him,

'Oh come on Jethro man up, it's good, you'll like it' leaning forward, Jenny all but jammed the spoon into his mouth, he nodded and swallowed heavily.

His coughed slightly as he forced out, 'It's good, although I think we should move onto the presents now', he placed Andrew on the bed before reaching down the side of the bed and lifting up a gift box, 'This is from the kids'

Jenny carefully lifted the lid and pulled out a mug that said worlds best mum, Izzy took it off her, 'It's for your coffee', she just smiled at her, trying to hold the tears back as she pulled out a wrapped present, unwrapping it she found a purple cashmere jumper. She pulled her two children into a hug.

'I love them, thank you'

Jenny looked up to see Jethro smiling at her, leaning over he ruffled his daughters hair, 'Give me and your mum a minute ok?'

'But Andrew gets to stay!'

'I'm about to put Andrew back in his cot for a few minutes', he stood up and picking up the little boy he ushered the pouting red head out of the room. He reappeared a few minutes later and shut the door over, sitting down on the edge of the bed he handed her a small ring box as he told her, 'It's a birthday and part anniversary present'

Jenny gently opened it, gasping at the sparkling diamond eternity ring, 'Jethro, this is beautiful', she leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck, 'It's perfect I love it'

'I'm glad', he ran his fingers through her curls, 'Now as much as I want to ravish you right now we have to get ready for work', he smiled at her, 'Get back to the real world', Jenny couldn't help but wince at his choice of words.

* * *

Later that night Jenny jumped in the shower, the team, Abby and Ducky were coming over and she was trying to get ready in time. Quickly getting washed she took less than ten minutes before stepping out, wrapping the towel around herself she ran another towel through her hair, before combing it through and blasting it with the hairdryer. Raiding through her wardrobe she pulled out a pair of black boot cut jeans and yanked them on. Realizing she had left her earrings in the bathroom she ran back through, while rooting around for them she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She had yet to pick a top to wear and so was still in her bra and jeans, taking a moment Jenny examined herself in this life, she definitely looked less tired, which was ironic really considering she had two kids to run around after. Her figure wasn't any different, save from a couple of very faint stretch marks. In fact the only big difference was the scars and even then it was only the largest one that was really noticeable, although it had also faded over time and if it hadn't been slightly raised it wouldn't be as prominent. Her fingers lightly traced over it, wondering what happened, that's when she heard a deep voice from the doorway.

'I thought I'd lost you'

Startled Jenny jumped, swinging around she watched as Jethro walked towards her, his breathing slightly heavier than usual and his eyes shining with emotion as he continued,

'I know we agreed not to talk about it but…..', he exhaled deeply, 'When Morrow called me into his office and told me you'd been stabbed while undercover I just…..I felt like someone was tearing me apart from the inside out. All I could think about was how much we'd been arguing and how the last thing I would have said to you would have been in anger. Then when I got to the hospital and the doctor's kept telling me they didn't expect you to make it out of theatre, but you did and I sat through complication after complication, all the time having them tell me this was it and it had been a miracle you had even made it that far. You kept fighting though, you proved them all wrong', he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close, 'You gave us another chance, I know I should have told you about Shannon and Kelly before then, but I could never find the words. Then as Izzy got older, I was convinced I would lose you two just like I'd lost them, so I shut you out and that was wrong of me, I'm sorry Jen'

Jenny stayed silent, running her hands soothingly up and down Jethro's back, she didn't know what to say, she didn't know who he was talking about although she had a fair idea he meant he had had a wife and daughter he had never mentioned, mind you if they had died then she wasn't surprised that he had kept it quiet, 'Jethro what happened wasn't your fault', as she said it she knew that she meant it, he couldn't have prevented her getting hurt after all it had happened in her other life as well. She gently brushed her lips over his, 'None of it was your fault'

'Maybe….I can't tell you relieved I was though when after that you accepted the job offer at NSA'

The missing pieces began to fall into place in her head, she had left NCIS because it was what was best for her family, after that attack she couldn't have stayed in the field, it was bad enough for her children to have one parent who placed themselves in constant danger. Not only that but she could see it would have destroyed Jethro if she died because of her work, she had obviously seen he couldn't go through losing another wife and had stepped down from her post, forever forgetting that stupid five point plan. Standing on her tip toes she whispered against his mouth, 'I love you Leroy Jethro Gibbs, don't you ever forget that and I know that if you could have stopped it you would have, so please stop torturing yourself', with that she caught his lips with hers and ran her tongue along his lip seeking access that he quickly granted. They were only torn apart by the doorbell ringing, he looked at her for a brief second,

'I love you too Jen,', the doorbell went again, 'I'll go get that, you better finish getting dressed', he gave her quick smirk before exiting the room, leaving Jenny standing trying to figure out what it meant for her real life if she had suffered from the same injuries that she had in this life, just because she had survived here, it didn't necessarily mean she had survived in the other one.

* * *

**I hope this made sense, if you have any questions just ask. This chapter was originally going to continue onto the party with the team, but instead I decided to break it into two smaller chapters because I realised that I wanted to end tis chapter at this point.**

**There is probably about two maybe three chapters left before you get to find out what's happening back in the real world**

**xxxxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Not entirely happy with this chapter but I have spent ages trying to fix it with no luck so I have decided just to put it up as it is.**

* * *

Later that same evening Jenny looked around her living room and smiled, everyone she cared about was in the same room all laughing and joking together. She walked over to where Ziva was standing awkwardly by herself holding Andrew, noticing she was currently looking at him as though she'd never seen a baby before. Taking pity on her, because she knew that feeling well Jenny took Andrew from her arms and asked, 'So how are you finding D.C.?'

Looking relieved Ziva replied almost uncertainly, 'It's good…..it's different'

Observing the younger woman Jenny realised that she was feeling slightly out of place and tried to reassure her, 'They're a very tight knit group I know'

Ziva gave her a small smile, 'I guess I just never realised how difficult it would be to take over Kate's job'

'No it's never easy to take someone else's place on a well established team, but they all care about you already, you're one of them now'

Cautiously tickling Andrew's cheek, Ziva nodded, 'I know, it's strange. I've never been part of such a lose team before, it's nice, really nice to know there are people who care about you'

Letting her gaze drift over to where Jethro was standing laughing with Ducky and Abby, Jenny breathed out, 'Yeah it is'

Shaking herself slightly Ziva laughed, 'Anyway thank you for inviting me tonight'

'Not a problem', Jenny looked over to see McGee storm away from Dinozzo, obviously fed up with being the butt of his constant jokes, a plan formulating in her head Jenny suggested, 'Why don't you go talk to Tony, he looks as though he needs some sense knocked into him.

Eyes twinkling Ziva replied, 'I might just go do that'

As she watched the pair converse Jenny thought about how good they were for each other and even if they were only together for a little while, in a world that she was pretty sure didn't exist, well surely that was better than nothing.

She heard Jethro creep up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he told her, 'You can't force them together Jen'

Tilting her head back on his shoulder she replied, 'They could make each other happy, they both need this, losing Kate hit Tony hard and when he's with Ziva he lights up'

Jethro narrowed his eyes, 'You been spying on my team Jen?'

'No', she laughed, 'Just stating the obvious, anyway why shouldn't they be together'

He didn't look convinced as he muttered, 'I suppose so, although I really don't want to have to watch them canoodling all day'

'Canoodling Jethro? You are aware that this isn't the nineteen fifties! And anyway we did it'

'That's different', he smirked at her, 'That was me'

'You are such a hypocrite'

Jethro turned her around and careful not to jostle Andrew, pulled her back into his arms, 'And you love me for it'

Leaning in to kiss him Jenny muttered, 'God help me I do'

* * *

After everyone had went home and she had tucked the kids in Jenny started to clear up the sitting room while Jethro tackled the kitchen. She finished pretty quickly and decided to take the opportunity to snoop around. Heading to the wooden display cabinet she opened the drawers and began flicking through the papers inside. Her hand stalled as she came across a ticket stub

Dated the 21st October 1999, it was a single journey ticket from D.C. to Paris. Jenny just stared at it, the moment she had bought this ticket still imprinted on her memory. She had only been back in D.C. for two days but she had missed Jethro so much that she had packed a bag and headed to the airport. Buying the ticket had been the easy part unfortunately there had been another two hours to wait until boarding so she had decided to go for a coffee. It was there in the airport's giant food court that she had begun to have doubts about her decision. To go back to him meant giving up everything she had planned, that of course was if he still wanted her. She had sat there for the two hours, nursing that one cup of coffee, staring out the window watching the planes, constantly changing her mind about what to do. When her flight had finally been called for boarding she had pushed herself up from her seat and made up her mind, she decided that couldn't go back only forward and left the building. She had kept the ticket though, it was in one of her desk drawers in her study and on the nights she regretted her choice, and there had been many of them, she would take the ticket out and repeat that statement over and over again, trying to force herself to believe it.

Jenny traced her finger over the faded ink, she had honestly thought that in this life she had never left Jethro, but she had, only this time she had had the courage to come back. Sighing she realised she that she was too late in figuring out it took more courage to go back and face your mistakes rather than ignoring them and pretending it was for the best. Unable to face thinking about it anymore Jenny shoved the papers including the ticket stub back into the drawers before heading to the kitchen. Jethro was currently jamming plates into the dishwasher in no particular order, silently laughing she snuck up behind him. Just as she was about to pounce he whirled around and grabbed her, moving so quickly that Jenny didn't even have time to gasp before he had her backed up against the kitchen counter opposite.

'Nice try Jen, but I thought you would have known better by now'

Smirking she wrapped her arms around his neck, 'Maybe I just like the result too much to care'

Laughing he lifted her up onto the counter top, 'So how does it feel to be over the hill?'

She playfully slapped his arm, 'That's rich old man, but since I'm past it you won't want my thank you for a wonderful birthday', Jenny moved to slide off the counter, his hands splayed around her hips and forced her back, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him into her. Grinning at her Jethro ran his hands through her hair before pulling her face to his, their lips meeting. As their tongues fought for dominance, Jenny ran her hands from his back to his front, her fingers fumbling slightly as she unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it to the floor. She pulled her mouth away from his and began to kiss along his jaw line and down his neck, smiling against his shoulder as he groaned. In retaliation Jethro's finger's crept under her top, tugging it over her head before sliding his hands back down and unclipping her bra, leaning forward he ran his thumbs over her nipples, smirking as she let out a gasp and moved closer to him. He replaced his fingers with his mouth, his hands moving to toy with the button of her jeans, she bit back another moan and tightened her legs around his waist, bumping her hips into his causing his actions to falter slightly. Jenny quickly undid his jean button and shoved them to his ankles so he could step out of them, his boxers quickly followed suit, laughing under his breath she shivered as Jethro whispered to her, 'You're a little overdressed for this'

'Well you were supposed to be taking care of that'

'You never could pace yourself'

Running her hand up his length, smiling as he bucked into her touch she replied teasingly, 'Well I could always put your clothes back on'

'Don't bother', he lifted her off the counter slightly, pulling off the remainder of her clothing before placing her back on the counter, 'I have a better idea', he told her as he positioned himself between her legs. She let out a sharp gasp as he thrust into her, her hips meeting his pace as she begged him to go harder, spiraling quickly to completion, she was almost there when he stopped. Letting out a small scream of frustration she looked up into his darkened blue eyes, he grinned at her before whispering into her ear, 'You know it'll be worth it', before he started to move again. This time every sensation seemed to be intensified, every breath was punctuated by a moan or a gasp, she sought out his mouth as the coil in her stomach built, a few seconds later she screamed her release into his mouth as she shuddered with it's intensity. Jethro followed her only a few seconds later, letting out a long low moan.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, wrapped around each other, one of Jethro's arms was wrapped around her waist, the other running through her hair. She smiled against his cheek, tracing her fingers over his shoulders, she had missed this closeness, her smiled widened as she heard him say, 'Ready to take this upstairs for round two?'

* * *

Hours later Jenny jumped awake, Jethro's arms still wrapped around her. She shifted, slipping out of his arms and heading downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink. As she sipped at the glass of apple juice she heard someone move around in the kitchen behind her. Swinging around Jenny was shocked to come face to face with the woman who had served her in the 24/7. Her breathing heavy Jenny stuttered out, 'What are you doing here?'

The woman smiled gently, 'I'm here to tell you it's time to go back'

'No', Jenny shook her head, 'I don't want to go back, I want to stay here'

'You can't, I'm sorry but this isn't your life and you need to go back to your own reality'

'Why? So I can be miserable again!'

'This was only ever meant to be a glimpse. Recently you have wondered about whether you made the right choices in your life, this was a chance for you to see what could have been, to reassess your priorities. You were given one week and now that week is up'

'Please don't make me go back'

The woman started to fade away again, 'This is inevitable, accept it and prepare yourself'

Once the woman was gone Jenny slumped against the counter in despair, this just didn't seem fair, she didn't want to go back and she still didn't see why they had decided to taunt her like this.

Making her way slowly up the stairs Jenny went first of all into Andrew's room. She stared down into the crib at the little boy, smiling at him. He had once again kicked his blankets off, she pulled them up and stroked his cheek, she could hardly believe how much she loved this little boy. One solitary tear ran down her cheek, she wanted to see him grow up, to see him take his first steps, go to school but she wouldn't. Placing one last kiss to his forehead she turned and left the room, heading into Izzy's room next. The little girl was curled up into a ball, facing the doorway, her cheek resting on her hand, her hair falling over her face. Jenny sat down on the bed next to her, running her fingers through Izzy's hair, pushing it back from her face. Again she placed a small kiss to the little girl's cheek, she was already so proud of her, she was so inquisitive, clever and already had a razor sharp wit. Jenny was aware that she was probably slightly biased, only very slightly though. Tucking the teddy bear tighter into the Izzy's grip she thought about how much she would miss her. Getting to her feet Jenny went back into her own room and climbed back into the bed, smiling as Jethro unconsciously pulled her into his arms. She snuggled into his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, letting it soothe her slightly. As she began to drift off she told herself she could only look to the future, whatever hers may be.

* * *

**xxxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm glad you all liked the last chapter, thanks for all the reviews, they made my fingers type faster to give you an update :)**

**It's just a short one this time, although I think you'll see why when you read, I hope the theory behind everything is clear, but as always if you are confused in anyway just ask :)**

* * *

It was a rush of cold air that forced Jenny to open her eyes. She blinked rapidly as she tried to adjust to her new surroundings, it all looked so eerily familiar. She looked around, taking in the darkened alleyway, the only sound was the wind sweeping down the deserted passage, whistling slightly as it did so. That was when it hit her, this was where she had been attacked and left for dead. Jenny then realised that she was standing next to where she had fallen, looking down she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Confused she rubbed at the back of her neck, suddenly she became aware of someone watching her and she already knew who it was, Jenny's voice seemed to echo as she asked, 'Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?', She turned to face the now familiar woman before continuing, 'Or are you just going to give me some more cryptic clues?'

The woman let out a laugh that was as clear as a bell and seemed to float around in the air, 'No, no more clues, it's time for you to know'

Jenny threw her arms up impatiently, 'Well come on then, what is it? Am I dead'

Her smile faltered slightly as she answered, 'No you're not, not yet anyway'

'Oh', Jenny wasn't sure how to reply to that statement, 'So I am going to die then?'

'Not necessarily'

'I thought we were done with the open ended answers'

'You're right we are', The woman raised her eyebrow, 'Well at least we would be if you would let me finish a sentence'

Suddenly Jenny felt very contrite as she muttered, 'Sorry'

'It's fine really', The woman waved her hand dismissively, 'It happens all the time. Did you know that a lot of our life comes down to fate? People are fated to be born, the people who they will truly love is written in the stars. In fact the only reason life doesn't run smoothly is down to free will, people make choices, not always the right ones, but fate has a way of trying to fix those mistakes by giving that person another chance. You my dear are one of those people, you made a big mistake 6 years ago, one that you have regretted ever since, even if sometimes you tell yourself it was for the best. You were meant to be with Jethro, your children were meant to be born and you were always injured and left for dead'

Jenny who had been staring at the ground trying to take in all the facts looked up at that point, shocked, 'Why? I mean I know in my other life something similar happened, but I don't understand'

'In the life you just saw you were injured when your cover was blown. You and Jethro had been married for two years and you were arguing almost non-stop, he was keeping secrets from you and shutting you out, he was haunted by the ghosts of his past and afraid of losing another family, but couldn't open up and tell you this. It got so bad that you were going to leave him and then you were attacked and as you lay there you made the decision to fight, not just for your life but for your marriage, for your family. But in your real life you just gave up, and I want to know why?'

Jenny shrugged, her eyes tearing, 'I was tired of fighting, I have fought for years, fought to be taken seriously, to be treated equally and for what? I can see why I decided to fight in that life, I don't see why I should in this one just so I can go back to an empty house and spend the rest of my life alone'

'That is of course your choice, I can't stop you from giving up, but like I said earlier fate gives us the opportunity to fix our mistakes, you could still have that life, all be it a few years later than it could have been….'

Jenny interrupted, 'Wait I could get Izzy and Andrew back and Jethro and I could be together'

'If you want it enough and don't give in then yes you could'

Swallowing hard as a thought came to mind Jenny choked out, 'Jethro won't want me back, not after what I did, I walked away and when he tried to restart things I shot him down, told him there would be no out of hours'

Shaking her head the woman replied, 'This attack wasn't just meant to make you reassess but him as well, it made him open up to you in the other life, why would this one be any different?'

Jenny didn't reply, her brow furrowed in deep concentration, shivering slightly as the wind picked up. She was so deep in thought she didn't see the other woman look around anxiously but she did hear the urgency in her voice when she next spoke, it was that urgency that brought her back to reality,

'Whatever your decision is you have to make it fast, you're cutting it fine as it is'

Looking down Jenny gaped in horror at the sight of herself lying on the ground in a pool of blood in front of where she was currently standing, the pain was back, stabbing through her causing her to double over, crying out. She looked up pleadingly at the older woman, the sound of sirens now filled the once silent air, 'I don't want to die, please don't let me'

'I can't do anything any more, it's down to you', the woman looked on helpless as Jenny's figure faded away, 'I just hope you're not too late….'

* * *

**xxxxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Just so you're prepared this chapter is from Gibbs's P.O.V.**

* * *

Gibbs's mind raced ahead of itself as his foot pressed down hard on the accelerator, he had McGee constantly trying Jen's cell but she still hadn't answered, that wasn't like her, she always answered her phone. His stomach churned as he thought about how distracted she would have been because of him, her guard would have been down, she would have been an easy target. As he weaved through the traffic, ignoring the horns that blared at him, his team stayed silent, knowing better than to even wince at the sharp corners. Even if they had complained Gibbs wouldn't have heard them, his mind was totally focused on Jenny, he needed to get to her, this was his fault. Pulling into Acker Street he screeched to a halt and was out the car before the other's had even had the chance to unclip their seatbelts.

The sharp ring of Jenny's cell phone was still going and he could hear the approaching sirens as he raced down the alleyway. Gibbs had known from the minute she had cried out on the phone that something was wrong, but nothing could have prepared him for what he found. Jenny was lying pale and lifeless in a pool of blood, the crimson stained her entire front, her eyes were tightly closed. Kneeling down to feel for a pulse he heard his teams shocked gasps behind him, relief flooded through him as he felt Jenny's very faint pulse. Trying to find the source of the bleed he yelled out, 'McGee go and look out for the ambulance, Ziva I need your help trying to find the bleed.

Ziva nodded, she couldn't look at Jenny's face, she just couldn't, she had lost so many people in her line of work but with Jenny it would be different, she relied on her, she was the only person she had ever opened up to. Getting onto her knees she watched as Gibbs's fingers fumbled at the buttons on Jenny's shirt, starting with the bottom ones he moved upwards, stopping when he got to the bottom of her ribcage. She could see one of the wounds and placed her hands on Jenny's stomach, pressing down trying to stem the bleeding, as the blood continued to seep through Ziva's fingers she wanted to cry, she was failing, she was failing her friend.

Gibbs meanwhile had his hand pressing down on the wound just below Jenny's ribcage, he looked up at her anxiously, her breathing was ragged, she was obviously struggling. He looked over at Ziva, the younger woman was close to tears as she tried to help but couldn't, her face was white, her lips pursed. Turning his attention back to Jen, Gibbs leaned forward on his knees so he could look into her face, without moving his hands he whispered to her, 'Don't do this to me Jen, you can't leave me, not like this. The ambulance is on it's way just hold on for me ok?'

Tony anxiously paced at the top of the alleyway, where the hell was the ambulance, he could hear the sirens but he couldn't see the damn thing. He glanced down the alleyway before looking at a petrified McGee who asked him, 'She'll be ok, won't she'

Knowing the younger man needed reassurance right now Tony made himself sound a lot more confident than he felt, 'Of course she will Probie, she's strong she'll pull through'

McGee just nodded, his head jerking up as the ambulance pulled into the street, darting past Dinozzo he waved at them to stop, he'd never been so relieved to see them before in his life.

* * *

Sitting in the waiting room Gibbs nursed a cup of coffee that Dinozzo had handed to him a few minutes ago, he had yet to try it, for once he just didn't want coffee. The team had just left, they had decided they had wanted to take over the investigation into Jenny's mugging, they had all looked at him, expecting him to jump to his feet and take over, he couldn't though, as much as he wanted this guy he couldn't leave her on her own. He looked towards the nurses station, willing one of them to walk over and tell him something, anything. Jenny had been in surgery for almost an hour now and he hadn't heard anything. There was a slow steady pace of footsteps approaching from behind him, he already knew who it was so didn't look up, not even when his oldest friend sat down next to him. Ducky placed a hand on his shoulder as he asked, 'How is she?'

'Still in theatre, it'll be at least a couple of hours yet'

'Have they said anything about her chances'

Gibbs flinched slightly, the memory of the doctor's words assailing him, his voice cracked slightly as he answered, 'From what they could tell her injuries are bad, she lost a lot of blood and one of her lungs was pierced causing it to collapse so they had to put in a chest drain. They don't think she'll make it out of surgery, they think she's suffered to much trauma to survive'

Ducky's grip on Gibbs's shoulder tightened slightly, 'She's a fighter Jethro, if anyone can come through this it's her'

Gibbs shook his head, 'It was all my fault Duck, I was winding her up, she was distracted because of me, if it wasn't for me he wouldn't have been able to sneak up on her, she might have stood a chance of fighting him off'

'You can't blame yourself for this Jethro, some things cannot be prevented, no one could have seen this coming'

Staring at the wall Gibbs asked his friend, 'What do I do if she doesn't come through this? I lost her once before but at least I knew she was ok, you know I used to check her file every couple of months, check to see if she'd been injured, make sure she was ok'

'You still love her', It wasn't a question, just a statement of the facts. Gibbs answered regardless though,

'Yeah I do, always have'

'She will pull through', Gibbs sighed, his old friend was trying but he still didn't sound very sure.

* * *

The hours seemed to crawl by, Gibbs was going crazy, he kept trying to tell himself that no news was good news but it wasn't helping. Finally in the early hours of the morning the surgeon approached them, Gibbs jumped to his feet, Ducky followed, albeit at a slower pace.

Taking in the obviously anxious and slightly intimidating man in front of him the surgeon took a steadying breath before speaking, 'I'm pleased to inform you that Director Sheppard came through the surgery. Unfortunately there were some complications. As you know she had lost a lot of blood and we had to give her multiple transfusions during the procedure. The knife pierced her liver but thankfully we were able to repair it and there will be no lasting damage. However Director Sheppard went into cardiac arrest on the table and the strain caused her other lung to collapse so we had to insert another chest drain. We have moved her into the IC.U. and she will have to remain fully ventilated and sedated for the next few days to give her a chance to recover. Unfortunately we're not sure if there was any brain damage from her arrest and we won't know until she wakes up, if she does in fact wake up. I am sorry I wish I could give you better news'

Gibbs struggled to take in everything he was hearing, he managed to force out, 'Can I see her?'

'Of course I'll have the nurse escort you through', the surgeon walked away and Gibbs just stared after him, not saying a word, not even when a nurse appeared and led him into the overly silent room, he noticed that Ducky didn't follow. He stood for a moment by the bed, just looking at her, she looked so small in that bed with tubes and wires trailing from almost every part of her. Eventually he sat down in the chair next to her and reached out for her hand, still he didn't say a word, he just stroked at the smooth skin there and willed her to wake up for him.

* * *

They had caught the man responsible pretty quickly, it turned out to be a drug addict who wanted money for his next fix. He had pleaded guilty but had been unrepentant, somehow his shoulder managed to dislocate while he was being transferred to jail, although there had funnily enough been no witnesses. Although he was glad the bastard had been caught Gibbs would have preferred that his team had shot him on sight.

* * *

Over the next few days Gibbs barely strayed from Jenny's side, although the strain was beginning to show, his eyes were red from lack of sleep and he hadn't shaved in days. He couldn't bring himself to leave her for too long though, only going to shower and even then he used the shower next door, having got Ducky to grab him some clothes. On the second day he made the mistake of going for coffee, he had only been gone ten minutes but when he came back he had found her room filled with medical staff. Jenny had taken a turn for the worse, it turned out that the knife had also nicked her spleen causing a slow bleed that had been missed during the original operation. Once again he found himself being told to prepare for the worst and once again Jenny had proved them all wrong and had made it out of surgery. After that he had continued to sit by her bed, still unable to find the words to say to her. Just the day before, four days after the attack they had taken her off the ventilator, removed her chest drains and gradually reduced her sedation, now he just had to wait for her to wake up, if she did wake up.

His team had all been in, Ziva came in the most and Gibbs seeing the look in her eyes stood at the window for her visits, watching her talk to Jenny, he knew how close they were and he knew how much this was affecting her. The rest of the team hadn't been much better, they just sort of stood at the bottom of the bed unsure of what to say, instead letting Abby rattle off the latest tales at the speed of light. Even Cynthia and Jen's security had been in, everyone waiting with bated breath to see if she would be ok.

On the fifth day Gibbs finally broke, he couldn't stand it, she should be awake by now and he just couldn't sit and watch her anymore. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to hold back tears, 'Jenny you need to wake up for me now, I just can't do this anymore, I need you to wake up and yell at me for something, anything.' His thumb ran over the back of her palm, 'I should have told you on the first day you came back, I love you Jen, I always have and I always will. You have to be the most stubborn, infuriating woman I have ever met but you're also smart, funny, warm and drop dead gorgeous. If you wake up I promise you that I will make up for all the time we've spent apart, I just need you to open your eyes, please Jen'

He watched her, her eyes didn't even flicker. Gibbs slumped back in his chair and let one tear fall, she wasn't coming back to him.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ok don't lynch me for the ending or I can't finish the story lol.**

**Anyway for anyone who had been reading Tangled Web it has now been removed, it will go back up at some point but it will have a new plot. I just wasn't happy with it the way it was and it was tormenting me. Also I want to know if anyone is interested in an Angsty Baby fic I have in mind, not sure when I would start it, it would probably be once my two current stories are finished, anyway let me know :)**

**Oh and Thanks for all the reviews so far**

**xxxx**


	9. Chapter 9

Jenny was aware of what was going on around her at certain points, she was vaguely conscious of someone sitting with her, keeping her hand in theirs, but not once did they speak. It gave her something to focus on though, something to pull her back from the edge when she felt like she was about to go under, when the darkness threatened to swallow her whole.

Ziva had came to visit, had sat by her bed and told her to wake up, told her she didn't save her life in Cairo just so she could die eighteen months later. Jenny could make out the emotion in the younger woman's voice as she went on to say that she couldn't lose the one person she turned to when things got difficult. As Ziva's voice began to break Jenny wanted nothing more than to reach out and tell her she could hear her but she couldn't it was like she was locked in, a prisoner in her own body.

Time passed, although Jenny didn't know how much, whoever had the hold on her hand finally began to speak to her, her heart quickened slightly when she realised it was Jethro. She listened as he asked her to come back and in that moment Jenny wanted nothing more than to open her eyes when he asked her too but she just couldn't.

After that Jenny didn't know how much more time passed by, it could have been seconds, it could have been months but soon her eyes felt less heavy and slowly but surely she blinked them open.

* * *

The hours after his declaration seemed to crawl by for Gibbs, he had truly thought she would open her eyes for him. Grief and rage whirled around inside of him, he needed her back, he had always needed her, he had just never accepted it before now. Why had it taken him so long to realise that? And why did it have to be when he was the verge of losing her?

Darkness fell and the artificial lights in the hospital flickered on causing him to wince as the brightness burned at his eyes. He had shut the blinds days ago, more content to sit in the grey bleakness since it suited his mood, ironically it was now on that fifth night that he decided he wanted them open. Gibbs looked out into the inky sky, the stars burned so brightly in it's backdrop that they appeared almost white, he noted that there was no moon tonight. As he stared out he thought back to Paris, the warm nights when he and Jenny had strolled through the winding streets hand in hand, they had sat in the park and looked up at the night sky. It had been then that she had told him that whenever she had needed to clear her mind she would look out at the stars, because she found them so peaceful and for some reason it had always made her feel better.

Sighing Gibbs glanced slightly at Jen's reflection in the glass, something he saw made him frown, her fingers were moving slightly. He whirled round, praying it wasn't an illusion, it wasn't, the hand he had previously been holding onto was moving, the fingers curling as though she was trying to grasp onto something. Standing in shocked silence he just looked on as her green eyes finally fluttered open. It was then something inside of him snapped and he moved quickly forward, sitting on the bed next to her, he grabbed onto her hand,

'Jenny can you hear me? Jen I need you too look at me again'

Her eyes fluttered open again and made contact with his, that mesmerizing green he never thought he'd see again took his breath away. He saw her lips briefly curl into a smile, her fingers curling around his as her eyes fluttered shut again.

* * *

After that the room was a whirl of doctors again and Gibbs found himself banished outside, although only after the doctor had threatened to have him escorted out of the building if he didn't wait outside. The moment the doctor walked out of Jenny's room Gibbs pounced on the man, 'What's going on, will she be ok?'

Slightly surprised the doctor quickly recovered, 'Agent Gibbs I am happy to inform you that Director Sheppard show's no sign of having suffered any brain damage from her arrest and we expect her to now make a full recovery. She'll probably sleep for the rest of the night until the rest of the sedatives are out of her system, you can of course sit with her', the man gave him one last smile before walking away, happy that for once he had been able to give some good news.

* * *

Jenny opened her eyes, the sunlight making her flinch, she hurt all over, turning her head she saw Jethro, he was sitting on the chair next to her bed, his head on his chest, his hand still in hers. Smiling softly Jenny ran her thumb over his knuckles, causing him to jump awake, he blinked rapidly at her before leaning forward, his hand trailing down her cheek. She turned into his hand and placed a chaste kiss to his palm, his thumb brushed over her cheekbone and he let out a shaky breath. Jenny lifted her hand and re-linked it through his as she croaked out, 'You look like hell'

Smirking slightly he replied, 'Yeah because you look like a million bucks right now', he frowned slightly, 'You want some water?'

'Please', Jenny shuffled up the bed slightly, wincing as she did so.

'You should try not too move too much'

'It's fine', she shook her head dismissively, 'I'm just stiff'

They sat for a few moments in silence as Jenny sipped at the water, she was unsure of what to say, 'How long have you been here for? Actually more to the point how long have I been here for?'

'Six days on both counts'

'You've sat here for six days!'

'Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were going to be ok'

'You didn't have to'

'I wanted to though Jen', Gibbs frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck, 'What do you remember?'

'I was walking home and somebody grabbed me, then I just remember pain'

'We got the guy, he pleaded guilty'

'Then why do you look like you've swallowed a pine cone?'

He looked up at her, his eyes red rimmed from lack of sleep and the tears he felt he had to try and constantly keep at bay, 'It was my fault Jen, we were arguing and you were distracted when he snuck up on you'

She tightened her grip on his hand, 'Believe me Jethro this wasn't your fault and nothing you could have done would have stopped this'

'Jen I….'

'No don't Jethro, don't blame yourself for this please', She gave him another small smile and decided to change the subject, 'The worst thing about this is the fact that I turn forty tomorrow and missed the last week of being in my thirties'

Gibbs let out a small laugh, 'Yeah because you had so much planned'

'Hey! I might have', she looked at him, taking in his slightly raised eyebrow before admitting, 'Fine so I didn't have anything planned'

Their eyes met again and Gibbs felt himself being pulled into her again, he glanced away letting out an awkward cough, 'I better go phone people and let them know that you're back in the land of the living'

Jenny didn't reply she just gave a soft nod and watched as Jethro left the room, wondering how she should tell him she still loved him.

As Gibb closed his cell he looked towards Jenny's room, she was back, she'd came back to him. He leaned against the wall and let out a sigh, now he just had to tell her he still loved her.

* * *

Unfortunately Jenny and Gibbs didn't get the chance to spend anymore time alone as the team raced to the hospital and all but set up camp in Jenny's room. Gibbs went to get coffee and then stood in the corner of the room watching as all the people he cared about sat laughing and joking, catching Jenny up on the events of the last few days.

Eventually the nursing staff came along and told them visiting was now over and they had to go. After much moaning and groaning they all left, promising to come back tomorrow and make Jenny's birthday as amazing as they could. Once they were all gone Jenny looked up at Gibbs and gestured that he should sit down on the bed next to her, he did so without argument. Swallowing hard she summoned up the courage to speak, 'Jethro I need to tell you something'

He looked at her slightly worried by the fear in her eyes, 'What's wrong Jen?'

She forced herself to meet his eyes, 'When I was lying there after my attack I realised something, I realised just how many mistakes I have made but the biggest one was the one I made when I walked away from you in Paris.' Her voice cracked slightly as she continued, 'I still love you Jethro and I'm sorry that I ever let you think otherwise and if I have to I will spend the rest of my life trying to prove it to you. I just I want another chance to make things right, I know we could be happy together'

Gibbs looked at her unsure what to say, he broke away from her gaze and stared at their entwined fingers instead, the words stuck in his throat, 'Jenny when you were lying here and the doctor's told me you wouldn't pull through I told you that if you woke up I wouldn't let us spend anymore time apart, I love you too Jenny and I think we deserve that second chance', He brought her fingers up to his mouth and lightly kissed her hand.

Beaming at him Jenny leaned forward and caught his lips in a kiss, her free hand curling into his hair. His hand wrapped round her waist and he pulled her into him causing her to let out a gasp of pain, Gibbs rapidly pulled back looking at her in concern, 'Jenny you ok?'

'Fine', she gave him a quick grin, 'I just don't think that I'm quite up to this yet, I promise I'll make it up to you though'

Laughing as he ran a hand through her hair as he brought her face very gently to his, 'I'll take you up on that one Jen but we have all the time in the world now, so we don't have to rush. I want to know you'll be ok'

'I'll be fine as soon as I get out of here', She looked at him eyes sparkling, 'Think you could break me out of here'

'Not a hope in hell, your stuck here until they discharge you'

Jenny let out a massive sigh, 'Fine, but will you stay with me?', she looked up at him, her green eyes hopeful.

Nodding Gibbs moved onto the bed and wrapping his arms around her pulled her gently into his side, smiling into Jenny's hair as she lay her head on his chest, their fingers still entwined together as they slowly drifted off into a contented sleep, together.

* * *

**Just the epilogue left. Once again thank you for all the reviews :)**

**xxxxx**


	10. Epilogue

_5 years and 4 months later……_

Smiling Jenny stood for a moment at the top of the basement steps all the while rubbing small circles on her bump and just watching the activity that was going on below her.

Her daughter Izzy was currently sitting on Jethro's knee while he taught her how to sand the wood. The pair were deep in conversation, although Jenny had no idea what about though, she let her mind drift back slightly to the events that followed her mugging.

Jethro had told her all about Shannon and Kelly and in turn she had told him why she had thought her five point plan so important, about her quest to try and clear her father's name. When she was finally discharged from hospital after one long frustrating week he had insisted that she stay with him until she was back on her feet. For once Jenny hadn't felt the need to argue, she was just glad to be with him and it didn't matter where they were. In December of that year they got married after an extremely short engagement and Izzy was conceived on their honeymoon. From the second she was born Jenny knew that it was the same little girl she had seen in her alternate life, apart from her father's watchful eyes she was Jenny's spitting image, something Jethro was obviously thrilled about. Right from day one she had been a daddy's girl although she was adored by everyone who met her and her extended family of aunts and uncles adored her.

Jenny had considered herself blessed, although she couldn't quite shake off the image of her and Jethro's little boy and his cheeky grin, the only problem was that she was getting older and when she hit forty four she gave up hope that she would have her son as well. For a while she had silently mourned for him, telling herself she was being stupid she was lucky with what she had. After all she had her career, she had remained NCIS's Director and more importantly she had a beautiful daughter and a loving husband.

Then in September of the following year, on the day of Izzy's fourth birthday she had found out she was 3 months pregnant, Jethro had been thrilled by the thought of another baby and even more overjoyed when the obstetrician had informed them it was a boy. Jenny knew instantly she had got her dream family and couldn't wait for their son to be born, she would finally get to see both the children she loved and adored grow up, just like she had wished for.

Shaking herself slightly Jenny maneuvered her way down the stairs, something that was relatively difficult at eight months pregnant, especially when you couldn't see your feet. As she neared the bottom she looked up to see Jethro in front of her holding out his hand for her to take as he helped her down the last few steps,

'You know you shouldn't be down here Jen, all this dust can't be good for you'

Laughing she replied, 'Oh but it's fine for our four year old'

Izzy ran into her mother's arms, 'Mummy can I feel the baby?'

'Uh huh', Jenny placed her daughter's hand on her bump at the point where the baby was currently kicking.

'Wow', Izzy gave her a big grin, 'It feels really freaky, was I in there?'

Jenny sat down on the armchair and Izzy perched on her knee, Jethro meanwhile went back to sanding his boat, although he was obviously still listening as Jenny answered, 'Yes you were sweetheart., although you were a lot smaller then'

Frowning Izzy asked her, 'But how did I get there?'

Hearing Jethro stifle a laugh Jenny tried to think of an answer, 'Well um that's something that you'll find out about when your older', desperate to change the subject she kissed her daughter's hair and told her, 'Why don't you get ready for bed and I'll come up in a bit and read you your story'

'Ok', Izzy leapt off her mum's knee and threw herself at her dad, 'Night daddy', she looked into his identical eyes solemnly as she informed him, 'Don't worry I'll help you with your boat tomorrow'

'I'm glad to hear it', he leaned in close to his daughter, 'Now go to bed'

Izzy looked between her parent's and letting out an almost knowing giggle she ran upstairs. Jenny laughed as they listened to her thunder up the second set of stairs to her bedroom and then pushed herself to her feet, Jethro was now leaning against his boat, his eyes gleaming as he pulled her into his arms telling her, 'She's wise beyond her years'

'Oh yes she is definitely your daughter Jethro'

'Think she'll be ok when she gets her baby brother?'

Flashing him a knowing smile Jenny replied, 'She'll be fine, trust me', with that she pulled her husband's lips onto hers, their tongues fighting for dominance as their hands explored each other. Eventually they broke apart, Jenny grinning up at him, 'I love you Jethro you know that?'

'Of course I do and I love you too Jen', he gave her a smile, 'I've never been happier'

Jenny leaned forward again and just before their lips met again she whispered against his lips, 'Believe me it's going to get even better'

* * *

**So that's the end of this tale, I hope you enjoyed and I would love it if you left me one last review for this one :)**

**As always if you have any questions just ask**

**xxxxxx**


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